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Home / Business

Cashed-up housing horse is long gone

By Fran OSullivan
NZ Herald·
19 May, 2015 09:49 PM4 mins to read

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Far too many Aucklanders have got rich off the housing boom to care too much about what happens when the music stops. Photo / NZME.

Far too many Aucklanders have got rich off the housing boom to care too much about what happens when the music stops. Photo / NZME.

Opinion
Tax package too late to curb foreign appetite for local market.

Why is the Government holding back from stopping cashed-up foreigners from continuing to snap up prime Auckland homes at prices that mainly they can afford?

Housing is now a major international commodity with homes in liveable cities like Auckland in keen demand as real estate salesmen spruik the benefits to foreigners of being able to buy homes here, unmolested by rules which tip the balance in favour of citizens.

Unlike Australia, Sunday's much-vaunted Government tax package does not stop foreigners from buying existing Auckland residences and nor does it push them into investing in new housing stock via the apartment market. There is still no stamp duty to slow acquisitions.

Read also:
• Govt told: one in five Auckland houses sold within two years
• Budget 2015: Property rules prompt fears of real estate dumping

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The one measure that might cause a real slowdown - introducing a withholding tax for non-residents selling residential property - will be investigated but will not be introduced until the middle of 2016.

While there will be a new "bright line" test put in place from October 1, making it mandatory to pay a capital gains tax on residential properties sold within two years of acquisition for non-residents and New Zealanders alike, this will not be retrospective and excludes the seller's main home.

The Government has (finally) put a slight brake on the obvious money-laundering which has also contributed to the foreign impetus to buy here.

This will be welcomed by the Chinese Government which has been quietly lobbying from President Xi Jinping down to trace overseas investments by its citizens as it cranks up Operation Foxhole to hunt down suspects who have tried to spirit out gains from graft and corruption.

Though it has to be pointed out most of the Chinese investment is legitimate and simply sucked in by the opportunity to invest at internationally competitive prices in an unrestricted prime housing market within a stable democracy.

The dirty secret is far too many Aucklanders (and foreign investors) have got rich off the housing boom to care too much about what happens when the music stops.

There has also been a sharp rise in cash buys for Auckland houses. But this will no longer be possible under the new rules which will require foreigners to provide a bank account, IRD number and passport identification when playing in the New Zealand market.

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The dirty secret is far too many Aucklanders (and foreign investors) have got rich off the housing boom to care too much about what happens when the music stops.

The boom has created considerable wealth.

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But Census 2013 shows we have far too many "ghost" houses in Auckland and young New Zealanders are either going into too much debt to buy unaffordable homes, live in the outer suburbs or face renting for a very long time indeed.

This strikes at New Zealand's reputation for a "fair deal".

The overseas buy-up has made some Aucklanders very rich, judging by anecdotal evidence.

But combined with local speculation and uncontrolled immigration, the overseas interest has helped fuel the boom.

The upshot is huge barriers in front of middle-income earners and young Kiwis who want to get a toehold in the residential market.

Time will tell whether the Key Government's "toe into the water" move arrests the pace of growth in the galloping Auckland housing boom.

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The package may curb some local speculation by residential investors when taken in concert with the Reserve Bank's direction that they will soon have to put down 30 per cent deposits when buying "renters".

It will not result in a "Bloody Sunday" when it comes to the Auckland property boom.

Which is a good thing, as far too many Aucklanders carry far too much debt to easily cope with a Government or central bank induced market correction.

But the truth is the package comes far too late in the boom cycle to seriously curb the appetite of foreign speculators - and New Zealanders for that matter - who have already made their gains.

The smart money has already ridden the boom.

It's a pity it took strong cajoling by Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler and his deputies to bring the Government to its senses.

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But really, it is far too little and far too late.

Debate on this article is now closed.

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